


Oblivious

by RagingByesexual



Series: The Media loves Stucky [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Avengers Movie Night, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Steve Rogers, ClinTasha if you squint, Coming Out, Deaf Clint Barton, Domestic Avengers, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Heteronormativity, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Oblivious Avengers, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Press Conference, Sassy Bucky Barnes, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Social Media, Steve Rogers Swears, Steve Rogers-centric, The Avengers Can't Take a Hint, Tony Being Tony, Translation Available, Twitter, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, accidental angst, basically just fluff, but just very brief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 05:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18804784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RagingByesexual/pseuds/RagingByesexual
Summary: “You need a girlfriend, Rogers.”“Huh?”Nat rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t your life get a little bit lonely from time to time? Don’t you want to be with someone you can share everything with?”“But I have Bucky?” Steve said, a question and a statement at the same time, completely stunned and not really able to grasp the situation.Or:In which everyone thinks Steve is straight, but he has been not-so-secretly been dating Bucky for months.





	Oblivious

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [一叶障目](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18855238) by [joankindom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/joankindom/pseuds/joankindom)



> So, this is my first fanfiction on ao3, I have been working on this for so long omg, like two months before Endgame came out. It became longer than I intended it to be, but I'm pretty satisfied with its outcome

“So Steve, you’ve ever seen Sharon again?,” Nat asked, raising her beer towards Steve and wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive way. Steve just chuckled slightly.

The Avengers had – for once – a calm evening, just enjoying their free time in the Avengers Headquarters and watching movies. And none of the Avengers seemed to take any hint that Bucky and Steve were dating for literal months and were completely oblivious to the fact that Steve and Bucky were everything but straight. You could be a super spy, a billionaire genius, a scientist with seven PhDs or an actual god and still be fucking blind.

Steve and Bucky were everything but subtle. Take now, they were pressed against each other on the couch and Bucky has rested his head on his shoulder. They shared an own floor. They held hands on multiple occasions. Bucky walked around with a big ass pride rainbow plastered on his shirt on a regular basis and nobody commented on it. The only thing they weren’t doing was kissing in public.

But neither Steve nor Bucky had the energy to tell them and it came to the point where they just tried to make it as obvious as possible to see how much more it would take any of their friends to figure it out. They even had decided that any of them literally just had to ask and they would get a truthful answer.

The thing was, Nat still wanted to set Steve up with somebody.

“Nah, haven’t seen her in months.”

“Face it folks, the grandpa will stay single for the rest of his sorry life”, Tony howled, definitely already a little bit too drunk for his own good. But what else was new.

Steve decided not to comment on it and instead lay his arm around Bucky, who was now slightly snoring against his shoulder.

After Bucky had broken out of HYDRA’s mind control and Sam and Steve had taken half a year to finally find him, Bucky was on his way to getting better. They were definitely not there yet and it was not fucking easy. Steve had lost count of how many times he woke up to Bucky screaming or punching Steve before realizing who and where he was. He was also still missing pieces of his memories. But it was getting better, definitely better. Every smile from Bucky meant the world to Steve. And even though the Avengers still treated Bucky with some kind of wary, they had gotten used to him being there and accepted him.  

“How about we leave Cap’s love life dead as it is and concentrate on the movie? You all are insufferable and I missed the last five minutes because none of you can ever shut up!” Clint complained. Steve wasn’t sure if Clint was insulting or helping him, which meant that it was probably both.

“You can literally lip-read, Clint, get over it”, Nat just said, rolling her eyes, but smiling and poking Clint in the side with her bare foot. They started to bicker, as if they never had anything else to do, and everyone else just ignored them and tried to follow the loose plot of the movie. Steve had no clue what it was actually about, so he just drew Buck closer to himself and buried his nose in Bucky’s soft hair, enjoying the smell that was so significantly Bucky.

Nobody seemed even to notice how close they sat.

Was he really sure that those fucking idiots were the same people he fought with against evil masterminds?

 

\---

 

When Bucky and Steve started dating, they were sure they didn’t have to announce it, thinking they were just too fucking obviously always crowding the other. So they just didn’t mention it and thought all the Avengers had noticed and just decided not to comment. (Maybe that was their mistake, because there was no way in this universe or any other where Tony Stark could keep his mouth shut about someone else’s personal life. Or Nat would miss an opportunity to tease either of them. Or Vision not giving them an awkward speech of approval.)

So both of them were rather surprised when Nat gave Steve his phone – which, by the way, he did not notice her stealing – opened on the apparently new installed Tinder-App. Surprised as in, Bucky almost died choking on his coffee and Steve being more confused than ever in his life, and that meant something, Steve was confused loads of times.

“You need a girlfriend, Rogers.”

“Huh?”

Nat rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t your life get a little bit lonely from time to time? Don’t you want to be with someone you can share everything with?”

“But I have Bucky?” Steve said, a question and a statement at the same time, completely stunned and not really able to grasp the situation.

“Yeah, but I mean on romantic levels also. And since you didn’t want any of the people I have suggested to you before, I think you should try online dating.”

Nat then started to explain how Tinder worked, misinterpreting Steve’s furrowed brows. She did not let either one of them say a word until strutting off with a “Come on, Rogers, your life is sad enough and as much you care about ‘Shared life experience’, you need to get laid.”

Bucky had switched from coughing up his coffee to laughing at Steve and grinning like the little shit he was.

“Sooo... should I tell her we’re literally already dating for two months and I get plenty laid?”

“Naah, she’s a super spy, maybe we should let her figure it out herself”, Bucky had said, smirking amused.

Then more “incidents” happened with their friends completely not noticing the fact that the two of them were dating and definitely not just best friends or like brothers.

They were literally holding hands sometimes, come on.

 

\---

 

There was nothing better than to wake up to Bucky pressing his hand over Steve’s mouth in the middle of the night, Steve decided.

“If you don’t stop snoring right now, I am going to strangle you in your sleep.”

“How romantic,” Steve muffled through the hands. “Before you kill me, can I get a goodbye kiss first?”

“Oh, shut up”, Bucky grumbled and actually decided to replace his hands with his lips. Steve felt giddy all over, smiled into the kiss and pulled Bucky closer, so that the former assassin could lie on top of him.

Yes, definitely nothing better.

As Bucky started placing kissed over Steve’s jaw and neck, Steve couldn’t other than sigh contently, his hands wandering into Bucky’s hair. “Was the reason you woke me up really my snoring or did you not get enough from me yesterday?”

Without breaking the contact between his lips and Steve’s skin, Bucky smacked him on the shoulder and pressed even closer. Steve threw his head back when Bucky gently bit in Steve’s neck, groaning.

Yeah, Steve really didn’t need any sleep right now.

 

\---

 

When Steve ate breakfast in the Avenger’s communal eating space the next morning, leaving Bucky behind in their bed, sleeping like dead, Clint came in and spent the next five minutes, without even greeting Steve, complaining to him about how he had another paper cut on his fingers. Steve just started to zone out, until suddenly Clint squealed loudly and crossed the kitchen to inspect Steve’s neck.

“What the fuck dude, you have like five hickeys!”

Smiling a little amused, he shoved him away from his neck and silently cursed Bucky for leaving marks, because now everyone he was going to meet today was going to comment on it. He may be a super soldier and heeling fast, but Bucky’s hickeys always took like a day to wear off and it happened like two hours ago. “Get off me, Barton and don’t forget to nurse your great injury.”

“Oh fuck off; my cut is just as dramatic as you actually having some action.”

“Both of them are not dramatic.”

“What is not dramatic?” Bucky asked, entering the room only wearing a pair of underwear and one of Steve’s old shirts, his hair a complete mess.

“Oh no, it’s very much dramatic,” Clint jumped in before Steve could say anything. “Just look at Cap’s neck!”

Bucky looked at his own work on Steve’s neck and smiled proudly. “Now, who could that have been?”

Clint eyes grew and for a second Steve thought that he finally got behind the situation. But, of course, that was too easy. “You know who has a thing with him?”

Bucky snickered. “Sure I do. You think that punk can keep anything from me?” With a smooth move he stole Steve’s coffee mug and took a big sip, ignoring Steve’s protests. “What a _best friend_ would I be to not know?”

The sarcasm in ‘best friend’ slipped Clint’s notice and instead he started to pester Bucky about who ‘Steve’s secret lover’ was for the next ten minutes.

But instead asking who actually left the marks, Clint just started making assumptions or threw names at the both of them. Steve didn’t actually know if he was relieved or disappointed about that.

He saw how Bucky bit back a laugh and just closed his eyes, not believing how nobody took Bucky in consideration.

 

\---

 

While it was still kind of funny watching everyone just glossing over Steve’s and Bucky’s relationship, it could also be fucking annoying.

Because there was Tony Stark, bragging about his amazing marriage – okay, Pepper and him actually were a power couple – and never forgetting to pepper in the fact that Steve was single. Because that man could seriously not do anything without making it a competition.

So, one day, Steve just couldn’t hold himself back. “Stark, I am in a relationship, thank you very much.” He nearly added that Bucky was his boyfriend, but kind of automatically held himself back, realizing that he would not only come out himself but out Bucky too. Even though they had talked about it, he didn’t just want to take that from him.

Tony stopped mid-sentence of his monologue and just stared at Steve. It actually took him a few seconds to find a Tony-approved answer and Steve counted that as a win. “Oh wow, I guess you can still fall in love when you’re older.”

Steve just rolled his eyes. “Your jokes about my age are getting... old.”

“ _Oh my god_ , Capsicle, was that a pun?”

Maybe being around Tony that often really wasn’t the best of ideas. But then again, he literally lived in a tower that mostly belonged to Tony and even though he still thought it was ugly, it was way more convenient than searching for a flat and probably being crowded by fans and reporters, them eventually finding out where his home was. The Tower had at least security.

“Wait,” Tony then said. “Don’t try to distract from the actual topic here. You, Virgin Mary, actually have girlfriend?”

Well, technically no. Steve just sighed. “Get over it.”

“Oh, when the public finds that out, a lot of women will have a stroke. Clint! Did you know that Cap has a girlfriend?” Tony shouted towards Clint who was sitting on the couch with his phone, ignoring Tony.

“He put out his hearing aids when you started monologuing earlier.”

 

\---

 

The word that Steve wasn’t single got around the Avengers in less than a day, because seriously, what else to expect. They started teasing him about it, but nobody actually asked who he was in a relationship with.

“Heard you had a girlfriend.”, a dark voice whispered in Steve’s ear and he felt a strong pair of arms wandering around his center. Bucky had tried to sneak up to Steve, but because he hadn’t been focused on the book he was reading for the last five pages and because he was a super soldier, he had already noticed before, but decided to pretend not to. Steve smirked and leaned against his boyfriend. They were alone in their floor, Steve especially enjoying the calm, because after a whole lot of people needing his help simultaneously on different things today, combined with nearly every one of his friends showing up, trying to analyse his love life and teasing him about it, he deserved some peace.

“Where did you hear that?”

“Shuri, Bruce and I were working on my arm when Stark strutted in and announced it as if someone was pregnant.”

“Of course he did.”

With a smooth, fast move, Bucky turned Steve around and pressed closer to him. “So, should I feel threatened?” His eyes twinkled, clearly amused, and betraying his fake angry expression.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Steve replied and even though it should not be physically possible, moved even closer to his boyfriend, pressing their foreheads and noses together. “Do you feel threatened?”

 

\---

 

It was late in the evening when Steve thought about the whole situation again and how he would tell anyone who actually asked, that Bucky was his boyfriend. But actually thinking about it happening made his stomach prickle nervously. Nobody in this fucking world knew that the symbol of America was not your average cis, white, hetero guy, but actually bisexual. Media was already ripping everything of him apart, from how he drank his coffee to his shirt size (well, Sam also liked to laugh about what size Steve bought his shirts in). He knew that the society nowadays was way more accepting than the one Steve and Bucky grew up to, but imagining being actually out was still fucking weird. And people were always judging.

As Steve thought of it this way, he poked Buck in the right arm, checking if he was still awake. They were lying in bed, sharing a comfortable silence and just cuddling after an exhausting mission.

Bucky, his head rested on Steve’s chest and holding tight onto him, looked up and raised his eyebrow questioningly.

“I’m just imagining coming out,” Steve explained. “I just... think about talking to one of them about my sexuality and it just feels... awkward, you know? Even when we thought they knew about us, we never talked about it with them and it is rather obvious that they all think that both of us are straight as fuck... I don’t want it to be awkward when they actually find out. I thought we would get around it because they already knew, but didn’t expect them to be as blind as they actually are. Fucking heteronormativity. Also, I’m not really an unknown figure in the public eye, imagine the reaction of the media.”

Bucky tangled out of their hug and sat himself up next to Steve. It was amazing how Bucky could switch between being the sassiest person in all the universes and being serious as hell. He met Steve’s gaze with an earnest expression. “It kinda feels weird for me too, you know. We were raised in a time where being queer despised and we meet again in one where people are fighting for who they love, publicly fighting and... I mean, there are still homophobic assholes in this world, but a hell less than we know and getting used to it is not really easy.”

Steve pulled Bucky next to him, hugging him and nuzzling his nose against his temple, his mouth against Bucky’s ear. “I know I still feel odd about telling people, but maybe I should. At least about me, it could be a good example for other people and teens if Captain America came out.”

Bucky moved away a little bit, but then pressed their foreheads against each other, so he could meet his eyes. “You don’t need to come out to anyone, Stevie, if it feels too weird for you. Yeah, maybe closeted people could have someone to look up to, but it’s still very private and nothing you should do for anyone else, but for yourself. I don’t know if I want to come out to the public, these people still have to get used to me being on the good side.”

“Yeah, but I want to tell them, it will probably never get easy. And of course, you don’t have to. I can just tell them I’m bi in an interview or a press conference.”

Bucky looked at him with such a soft smile, Steve nearly melted. “You are the bravest person I know, Stevie.”

“Sap.”

 

\---

 

“Pepper”, Steve greeted the CEO of Stark Industries and also unofficial manager of the Avengers on the phone. “I was wondering if it was possible to hold a press conference, I have an announcement to make.”

He couldn’t see it, but he imagined Pepper raising her brows. “Sure, that’s no problem, but it’s better if we discuss the content of your announcement beforehand so the PR team is prepared.”

Steve had expected something like this as an answer. He had thought about it and had to stop himself from starting to bite his nails.

“I know what I wanna say, I don’t want other people’s opinion on the topic.”

“Steve-”

“ _But_ I will tell you what it is about, because that is only fair.” He took a deep breath and Pepper waited patiently for him to continue. “I want to come out as bisexual.”

There was a short silence on the other end, followed by a “Wow.”

He chewed on his upper lip, not knowing what to say next.

Gladly, Pepper took that from him. “I must say, I didn’t expect that. But just so you know, I support you and your decision to come out.” She made another pause. “I appreciate you telling me, I can only imagine how hard that is for you. Considering... the time you come from.”

He cleared his throat. “Thanks, Pepper. I just... I thought better announce it, before the media starts any rumors or it comes out in a less-than-ideal way.”

This whole conversation was so awkward.

“Yeah, that would be a chaos for PR, so thanks for telling me – not that it’s something bad, but knowing what happens and being prepared is always easier.”

“Yeah.”

“I can probably organize a press conference on Saturday, won’t be hard to find people interested in an announcement from Captain America.”

“Yeah, probably not.” He paused a second. “Also could you maybe not tell anyone of the others about it? They don’t know yet.”

“Of course, Steve, that’s your secret to tell. Just know that you can trust them too.”

“Thanks, Pepper.”

“Also, there’ll probably be a lot of questions. You don’t have to answer them right there, but you probably have to do some follow-up interviews.”

He nodded, then remembered she couldn’t see him. “Yeah, sure, I expected that.”

 

\---

 

“You really don’t want to tell anyone else before? Not even Sam?”, Bucky asked, but Steve just shook his head. It was Saturday and maybe half an hour before the press conference. Bucky had come with him, of course he had.

“Nah, those idiots deserve to find out through media, if they are too blind to notice.”

Bucky grinned and gave Steve a small kiss on the lips. “You sure you’re ready? You don’t need to do it, you know that.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m ready. And I need to do this for myself too, Buck.”

They hugged silently and Steve couldn’t believe how he deserved someone as amazing as Bucky.

“Thank you,” he mumbled sincerely in Bucky’s ear. “For being here.”

“Where else would I be, you punk?” Bucky joked, but Steve knew he understood him. “How do you feel?”

“A little nervous maybe.” Steve stopped himself for a second and moved a bit away from Bucky to look him in the eyes. “But the right kind of nervous.”

At least he hoped. If there even was a right kind of nervousness.

 

\---

 

No matter how many press events, Steve always was overwhelmed by all the camera flashes and the hundreds of questions thrown at him, before he even said anything.

He tried to suppress how jittery he was feeling now, trying to breathe normally. He walked up to the podium, smiling calmly at the audience. At least he hoped it was his calm smile.

He looked back to the side and seeing Bucky smiling at him reassuringly gave him the confidence he needed.

Steve waited for the journalists and photographers to calm down, before he spoke into the microphone. “This conference is rather spontaneous for you, but I’ve been thinking about it for quite a time now. None of you probably know what to expect, so I’m just gonna roll with it.”

Normally, public speaking wasn’t such a problem for him and the right words just flew to him, but normally he wouldn’t share something so personal either. He looked at the cameras. This was probably shown on life television like all the other press conferences he’s been on.

He was more nervous than he remembered ever being. Steve remembered how afraid he had been last century that maybe his sexuality would sicker through, even when he didn’t do anything. He was afraid some people would just sense it. But nobody ever had, nobody expected him to like guys. And on all his missions and all the many life-threatening events he’s been through, this here got to his nerves the most.

He took a deep breath before continuing. He could do it, he knew he could. “I haven’t been in this century for a long time, but fairly long enough to notice a lot of differences and I am still adjusting to lot of it. There is something personal I thought I would never share. Some people might hate me after this, but sadly I don’t care much about that, because that is their problem, not mine.”

A lot of the journalists started asking questions when Steve made a small pause to catch his breath, but he just waited for them to shut up again before he continued. Unintentionally, he clenched his fists.

“I am bisexual.” For a moment, nobody said a word, clearly nobody had expected this. But then all the storming questions were headed at him, even louder and even more than when he had entered. Steve didn’t know how to feel and he tried to not freak out and just stared straight ahead, wanting to continue with the words he had prepared. But they didn’t feel right anymore. They didn’t feel his anymore, even though he was the one who constructed them. So ignoring all the questions, he just continued.

“I’m waking up in this century and I can see how much progress to equality is made. Hell, the term for my sexuality didn’t even exist in my time. I had to keep my feelings a secret because otherwise, it wouldn’t have ended very nicely for me. But now it is my choice and I am proud of who I am. So hate me all you want, antagonize me, if you must. But be aware that it says more about you then it does about me.”

He didn’t plan on answering any questions so he gave the crowd just his best and widest smile before walking off the podium, back to Bucky.

 

\---

 

Coming back to the tower, he didn’t know what to expect. What he did know was that probably nearly everyone of his friends now knew of his sexuality – apart from maybe Bruce, because he seemed to not have slept in the last 30 hours when Steve and Bucky had left for the press conference.

The one positive thing from the upcoming situation: Apparently all the others have gathered together, so FRIDAY had told the both of them when they had entered the elevator. So there wouldn’t be 10 awkward conversations, but a big one that would probably leave him wanting to crawl in a hole for the next few days.

In the elevator the way up to the Avengers living room, Steve glanced to Bucky standing at his side. He seemed actually a lot more nervous than when Steve made the announcement. He shot his boyfriend a reassuring smile. “They’re going to tease and fry me with questions, you okay if they actually figure out that we’re together?”

Bucky just shrugged and put on a neutral expression, but Steve knew that Bucky was nervous about the whole thing, probably more than Bucky had thought that he would be.

Steve leaned over and locked their lips for a brief second before looking Bucky deeply in the eyes. “If you want, you can just go to our floor and I can deal with them alone.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Yeah, of course now seems like the perfect time to leave you alone.”

Despite the situation, Steve smiled softly and bumped his shoulder against Bucky’s. “No need to be sarcastic, you jerk, just thought you didn’t want to deal with Tony being an ass and with the others too.”

“So that you have to deal with them alone? You just came out, Stevie, I’m not leaving you alone.”

They shared another soft kiss, longer than they had intended and Steve’s hands framed Bucky’s face easily, while Bucky’s hands wandered around Steve’s hips. Neither of them deepened the innocent kiss and Steve wished that they could stay like this forever. But when the elevator got slower, they untangled themselves and got back to their positions next to each other, shoulder to shoulder before the elevator door opened. Steve wished he could take Bucky’s hand now, and it would have not been the first time they had held hands in front of their friends, but probably the first time it would actually be acknowledged for what it was.

And _of course_ , their friends were applauding. By giving a quick glance to the people gathered, Steve could spot the rest of the original Avengers except for Thor; Pepper, Sam, Wanda, Vision and Peter Parker. Right, it was Saturday, so of course Peter was going to be there. Steve had grown to like the spider kid. When at first he had been a little bit sceptical about a 15-year-old joining their group, but Peter was not only because of his superhero powers a help for the group, he was also a whole lot smarter than you would expect and a kind and fun person to hang out with.

“We all saw it live,” Natasha informed them, “Brave move, Rogers, brave move.”

“Also unexpected one”, Tony chimed in, raising his drink, “Would’ve appreciated if you told us first.”

Pepper, next to him, hit him in the shoulder. “Behave.” Tony just shot her one of his famous smiles.

Steve just smiled, awkwardly. “There wasn’t really the right moment.” Then he added. “Also, some of you are super spies, I was offended nobody figured it out.”

“Well nobody’s perfect,” Nat said, feeling addressed.

“Did anyone besides Pepper know, man?” Sam asked. He looked chill about the whole situation.

“Bucky knew.” Literally everyone raised a brow to that, causing Bucky to groan.

“You guys don’t actually think I don’t know everything about that punk? Besides, he was not really hiding it and you just can’t take any hints.” Bucky smiled cockily and all the nervousness from literally a minute ago seemed to have vanished. But Steve knew better, he knew Bucky was just good at hiding things.

“Shit, I didn’t even think Rogers knew what homosexuality is,” Tony then said, grinning at Steve.

Steve just rolled his eyes, also grinning. “Being gay isn’t a new invention; there were gay people back in my days too.”

“Stark, Steve doesn’t even know how a fridge works and he still uses it”, Bucky then said, what earned him a smack on his shoulder from Steve and chuckles from the others.

“Whatever,” Clint then proclaimed. He was eating cereal and had a big bandage around his arm. Probably walked into a wall again. “Wanna watch a movie? I could use some classics.”

Everyone seemed excited to start arguing what they should watch and Steve was grateful for Clint to change the topic before anyone else could ask some embarrassing questions. Steve had the suspicion that they talked about not asking him too much about the topic – Maybe Pepper had blackmailed them, he thought.

“You know what, I’m tired” Bucky told Steve, yawning and then nodded towards Bruce, who was sleeping on the couch, hugging a pillow. “And I won’t end like this, so have fun.” He nodded towards Steve. “Please be quiet when you come up for once.”

Nobody really had paid attention to what Bucky said, apart from apparently Peter who had his eyebrows raised, mouth formed to an ‘o’ and looked between Steve and Bucky, who was already walking to the elevator. He looked like he had realised something and Steve nearly laughed. Peter was probably the first to get behind their not-so-secret relationship while being the one in this room who spent probably the least time with them.

But then Steve could make out a whispered “...And they were roommates.” from Peter and to say that he knew what that meant would have been a lie.

 

\---

 

 **TWITTER TRENDING:**  
#CaptainBimerica  
#GiveUpTheShield

 

 **Janette More @jane.tte.more**  
#CaptainBimerica So, the serum fixed all his flaws, right? And he is still not straight? How does it feel being proven wrong, conservatives?

 

 **Anna @ann_a_nna**  
#CaptainBimerica Steve and Bucky are secret lovers calling it now! #Stucky you heard it here first!

 

 **Martin Coffrey @coffrey_martin**  
@CptRogers thx for your courage for coming out, it means a lot to the LGBTQ+ community! #CaptainBimerica

 

 **Alexxx @alexafield02**  
#CaptainBimerica my skin is cleared, my grades are high, my depression is cured

 

 **No. 1 Cap Fan @capsbiggestfan1918**  
#CaptainBimerica is just the beginning, introducing: #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend

 

 **Hawkeye is Bae @fancy_clintbarton** _in reply to @capsbiggestfan1918_  
omg #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend ahdgadjahdhs

 

 **nina @brb_12**  
#CaptainBimerica OMG remember all the Anti-Gay-Ads where republicans put in @CptRogers? ahdghaghs

 

 **nina @brb_12** _in reply to @brb_12_  
“CapTaIN amERiCA diDn’T fIgHT fOr tHis cOUntRY tO LegALiSE GaY mARrIagE” they must feel so dumb rn LMAO

 

 **Glenn @glenn_phillips**  
Can’t believe people are still standing behind Captain America, gross #GiveUpTheShield

 

  **Charles M. @charlie.hufflepuff** _in reply to @glenn_phillips  
_Can you like... fuck off? #CaptainBimerica

 

 **Lucia @luci_1996**  
“So hate me all you want, antagonize me, if you must. But be aware that it says more about you then it does about me” a legEND HAS SNAPPED #CaptainBimerica @CptRogers

 

 **Christine Mayfield @christinemayfield  
**Captain America being bisexual is outrageous #GiveUpTheShield

 

 **Robert @liveofrob** _in reply to @christinemayfield  
_Super Serum and being frozen for seven decades – but that Cap happens to be bisexual? That is where you draw your line? Really?

 

\---

 

The next morning, still in bed with a sleeping Bucky by his side, Steve decided to check his phone. There was an email from Pepper, listing interviews he should consider taking and far too many notifications from Twitter. Nat had made him a Twitter page like a year ago and while he got around with it pretty well, he had not figured out how to turn off notifications just yet. (And no, he was not going to ask how to, thank you very much.) He mostly just used it to check a few things or to repost something, but he wasn’t really the most active person.

He signed before going on the app. He was tagged in a lot of posts and apparently #CaptainBimerica war trending, followed by #GiveUpTheShield.

After looking through different hashtags and posts he was tagged in, he didn’t know if he should be surprised that the majority of the posts were actually positive (When he saw the #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend-Hashtag he had to grin). Some of them were, of course, negative and he didn’t know if he should’ve expected anything less than “Is he still fit to serve this country?” from Fox News.

He scoffed. Not like he just became bisexual yesterday. Steve thought about replying, but decided against it. He could deal with that another time.

Instead, he looked over to Bucky, sleeping on his stomach with his head turned into Steve’s direction. So what? People were going to hate him because of his sexuality. But his friends supported him, he had Bucky and honestly, what more could he ask for.

 

\---

 

The first one to catch on was Natasha.

Actually, she walked into the common living space where Steve and Bucky were watching Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, cuddling on the couch.

She greeted them with a tired “Hey” and flopped on the love seat next to them and started watching with them, until five minutes after her head snapped into their direction.

“Wait, since when are you guys dating?”

“Finally,” Bucky muffled into Steve’s shoulder before he turned to Nat. “We’ve been dating for eight months.”

“Huh.”

“And we weren’t subtle,” Steve added, not even looking at her, but instead watching how Malfoy was attacked by Buckbeak on screen. “Maybe you should reconsider your profession.”

“Rude”, Nat just said and threw a pillow at them, that Bucky easily caught. “But trust me, Rogers, I will not try to set you up anymore.”

“Oh thank god.”

 

\---

 

Sam found out a day later, walking in on Bucky and Steve in their own floor. He stared at them for a second, completely frozen and eyes and mouth wide open, before he turned around again and walked away without saying a word.

He later wrote Steve a message saying that he was happy for them but if he had to see them like that ever again he would kill the two them first and then himself.

 

\---

 

The rest of the Avengers found out together two weeks later. Not because any of them were able to put two and two together, but because of Peter Parker.

The teenager didn’t do it on purpose, it was on a rather big mission where even Thor was there and they were fighting some weird aliens with orange skin. It wasn’t as big as New York 2012, but still.

Peter was currently swinging past Steve, who was fighting several of the creatures on a bridge. “Mr Captain America, sir, if you ever were to marry Mr Winter Soldier, I would appreciate if you wouldn’t chose orange for the flowers, because it does not go well with your skin tone.”

Steve really didn’t know what to answer to that so he just kept fighting, but apparently Tony knew how to articulate himself through the coms. “If Cap does _what_?”

“Oh my god, I am so sorry!” Peter started to ramble while webbing three of the aliens to a building wall. “I didn’t know it was a secret? Was it a secret? Oh my god, Mr Captain America, Mr Winter Soldier, I am so sorry, I thought it was obvious and-“

“It’s okay, kiddo” Bucky’s voice interrupted the younger one through the coms. “They’re all just huge dumbasses who couldn’t figure it out themselves and Steve and  I are fucking.”

Steve urged a half-hearted “Buck”, but that was drowned under a series of different shocked exclaims from different people through the coms. And Steve could not help but grin while he pushed two of the aliens down the bridge.

 

\---

 

When they were back at the tower and Bucky and Steve had settled down on the couch, cuddling like usual, Tony just watched them for a minute before shaking his head unbelieving. “And here I thought they were just affectionate friends needing to catch up on seventy years apart.”

“Grow up, Stark,” Bucky just muttered into Steve’s thighs, where he had placed his head.

“If it helps,” Steve looked at the billionaire amused, “You were hardly the only one.”

“Okay just to be clear,” Bruce chimed in, propping himself onto one of the armchairs. “You are dating for now nearly nine months and didn’t plan to tell us?”

“We thought you knew, until it was obvious none of you knew shit. I mean, come on, we were so obvious, we even held hands on occasion.” Steve argued while going through Bucky’s hair with his hands.

“I thought it was just friendly!” Tony cried again and Steve hoped he wouldn’t hurt himself on how he was waving with his hands.

“Wait, you two were holding hands?” Clint was looking more confused than ever and now Steve and Bucky weren’t the only ones amused.

Nat gave him a light punch on the back of his head and clicked her tongue, grinning. “Idiot.”

“I actually knew for the whole time.” Wanda was standing close to the elevator and everyone turned to her, surprised. Even Bucky lifted his head from Steve’s legs to look at her. Wanda just rolled her eyes to that. “Come on guys, does everyone always forget I can read minds? I didn’t even do it on purpose and let’s just say you don’t want to hear what these two think about each other.”

Apart from Steve and Bucky, everyone groaned to that.

  
\---

 

Nothing really changed now that all their friends knew about their definitely romantic (and sexual) relationship. Except maybe for the now seemingly endless teasing. But Steve couldn’t find himself to care. He had Bucky, they were surrounded by friends and they could be who they were without having to face consequences. Hell, they could even get married.

Steve had done his fare share of interviews on his sexuality and he had actually called out Fox News and other homophobes online and to the face. And telling them to fuck off actually felt amazing. Maybe not as amazing as if they didn’t exist, but he knew that the world was making progress. And it felt good that he could be part of the positive influence.

 

\---

 

Buck decided to come out to the world not through a press conference, but by posting a picture of him kissing Steve’s cheek on Twitter, captioning it with a simple “mine”. But apparently that wasn’t clear enough to the world, because several articles and tweets came up speculating what ‘the nature of their relationship’ really was.

Bucky had just groaned as Steve showed them to him. “Not again, why is everyone so fucking stupid?”

Steve had laughed as he watched his boyfriend promptly creating another tweet to make it completely clear.

 

\---

 

 **Bucky Barnes @SgtJBBarnes**  
Because apparently it wasn’t fucking clear enough: @CptRogers and I are having frequent sexual intercourse. As in, we are together.  Romantically. It ain’t that hard to get.

 

 **Steve Rogers @CptRogers** _in reply to @SgtJBBarnes  
_<3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, hope you liked it! I would really appreciate feedback of any kind <3  
> if you're interested, here is my [Tumblr](https://hln-lhss.tumblr.com/)  
> Also please tell me if I made any mistakes!


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